Good News is an American sitcom

Situation comedy

A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 that aired on UPN

UPN

United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...

 from 1997 to 1998. The series is a spin-off

Spin-off (media)

In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 of the UPN series Sparks

Sparks (TV series)

Sparks is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from August 26, 1996 to March 2, 1998. The series stars James Avery, Robin Givens, Terrence Howard, and Miguel A. Núñez, Jr.. The sitcom is set in Compton, California, and is about the every day lives of a family of lawyers running a family owned law...

.

Synopsis

The series focused on David Randolph (David Ramsey

David Ramsey (actor)

David Ramsey is an American actor, best known for his roles in the Showtime TV series Dexter as Anton Briggs and the film Mother and Child.-Life and career:...

), a young acting pastor designated to Compton, California

Compton, California

Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city of Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. The city is considered part of the South side by residents of Los...

's African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 Church of Life. Initially, the majority of the church's members balk at the young pastor's new position and resent him replacing their former pastor. With the help of the church's secretary, Vera Hudson (Rose Jackson Moye

Rose Jackson (actress)

Rosemarie Alicia Jackson-Moye is an American television and film actress.After a successful career in film and television, Jackson-Moye now teaches dance in the town where she is raising her daughter. Jackson-Moye also directs a number of dance troupes and works as a choreographer for musical...

), Randolph attempts to reunite the church and help his congregation.

Other cast members included Roz Ryan

Roz Ryan

Roz Ryan is an American actress. She has earned wide acclaim as an actress, singer and comedian.-Life and career:Ryan was born Rosalyn Bowen in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Gertrude and Thomas Bowen, who worked for the Board of Education. She is a 1969 graduate of Mackenzie High School...

 as Hattie, the church's cook, Tracey Cherelle Jones

Tracey Cherelle Jones

Tracey Cherelle Jones is an African American actress. She has been acting since childhood and has appeared in a multitude of commercials, movies, and television shows....

 as the church's youth director, Guy Torry

Guy Torry

-Early life:Guy Torry was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, along with his brother, actor and comedian Joe Torry. He attended Southeast Missouri State University where fellow comedian and St. Louisan Cedric the Entertainer attended. While attending college, Torry developed his talent for comedy...

 as a choir member and janitor.

The series was canceled in 1998, after 22 episodes.

Cast

Actor	Role
David Ramsey David Ramsey (actor) David Ramsey is an American actor, best known for his roles in the Showtime TV series Dexter as Anton Briggs and the film Mother and Child.-Life and career:...	David Randolph
Roz Ryan Roz Ryan Roz Ryan is an American actress. She has earned wide acclaim as an actress, singer and comedian.-Life and career:Ryan was born Rosalyn Bowen in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Gertrude and Thomas Bowen, who worked for the Board of Education. She is a 1969 graduate of Mackenzie High School...	Hattie Dixon
Tracey Cherelle Jones Tracey Cherelle Jones Tracey Cherelle Jones is an African American actress. She has been acting since childhood and has appeared in a multitude of commercials, movies, and television shows....	Cassie Coleman
Guy Torry	Little T
Alexia Robinson	Mona Phillips
Jazsmin Lewis Jazsmin Lewis Jazsmin Lewis is an African American actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role as Traci Townsend in the 2005 film Traci Townsend.-Biography:...	Venita Stansbury
Rose Jackson Moye*	Vera Hudson

* Pilot

Television pilot

A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

episode only

Episodes

Series #	Season #	Title	Notes	Original air date
1	1	Pilot	Pastor Randolph arrives at his new church, only to find that the ministers & staff are quite upset that their previous pastor had chosen an outsider to be his replacement, and all have decided to quit and form their own church and take half the congregation with them. Even the cute church secretary has to quit because of her mom.	August 25, 1997
2	2	"Writing on the Wall"	Pastor Randolph decides its time to remove the gang grafitti from the walls outside the church. This angers the gang members and strikes fear into the hearts of the church congregation. Now the pastor has to find a way to mend fences, stand up for his faith, and bring everyone together in peace, love and harmony.	September 1, 1997
3	3	"Ashes to Ashes"	Pastor Randolph loses one of his members and has to prepare for preaching his first funeral. A stuttering man gets "in the Spirit" during the funeral and begins to speak fluently for the first time.	September 8, 1997
4	4	"The Baby on the Door Step"	Pastor Randolph must play Solomon when his parishoners square off over their rights to adopt Joey (Evijan Watson), a five-year-old found abandoned in the church.	September 15, 1997
5	5	"The Dinner Party"	Pastor Randolph abstains from handing out condoms that have been donated to the church.	September 22, 1997
6	6	"A Joyful Noise"	Mona, a new member at the church, tries to host a party. But things get out of hand when rival gangs show up.	September 29, 1997
7	7	"Try a Little Tenderness"	Pastor Randolph tries to convince young bride-to-be Cynthia Porter to reconcile with her estranged father before her wedding and to include him in the ceremony. Cynthia is ashamed of her father because he is a little person. Meanwhile, Mr Porter makes a big jump for Mrs Dixon.	October 13, 1997
8	8	"The Fallen Woman"	Pastor Randolph needs a root canal, but his dentist and his bride-to-be are having problems in their relationship because of her past, and he is in no condition to perform the root canal. Pastor Randolph needs to hurry up and patch their relationship back up, so his can get his painful tooth problem fixed.	October 27, 1997
9	9	"Show Me the Money: Part 1"	The church choir agrees to sing in a televised 24-hour telethon.	November 3, 1997
10	10	"Show Me the Money: Part 2"	The church choir has a hard time completing the telethon they agreed to sing in. They try to finish it in order to receive the money that's been promised to them.	November 10, 1997
11	11	"There's an Old Flame: Part 1"	One of Pastor Randolph's old girlfriends comes to town and attempts to seduce him. However, Pastor Randolph is reluctant to respond to her advances because it would make his image look bad.	November 17, 1997
12	12	"There's an Old Flame: Part 2"	Rev. Randloph realizes his true calling when a romantic moment with Joanne (Tanya Boyd) is interrupted by a suicidal man who's perched on the ledge of her suite.	November 24, 1997
13	13	"A Christmas Story"	The Christmas pageant is fouled up when Joey's duck eats one of Mrs. Dixon's earrings. Meanwhile, a snowstorm reminds Pastor Randolph of home at the holidays.	December 16, 1997
14	14	"Love, Honor & Obey"	Pastor Randolph intercedes on behalf of a wife-turned-comedianne (Amelia McQueen) whose husband finds her choice of profession no laughing matter.	January 12, 1998
15	15	"The Reunion"	Pastor Randolph's plan to raise money for a new furnace hinges upon whether Mrs. Dixon will take a little person (Dana Woods) to her class reunion.	January 19, 1998
16	16	"Back in the Day: Part. 1"	The church decides to put on a talent show to raise money for the children's summer camp, bringing together a collection of some strange talents from the congregation.	February 16, 1998
17	17	"Back in the Day: Part. 2"	Conclusion. Randolph takes steps to keep Beans (Reynaldo Rey) sober, but faces a higher power, stage fright, when the two perform at the church's variety show.	February 23, 1998
18	18	"Amazing Grace"	Race relations become an issue when a parishioner dies, leaving his kids in the care of his brother -- who has been passing himself off as white.	March 2, 1998
19	19	"Lift Every Voice: Part. 1"	Pastor Randolph hits a sour note with Mrs. Dixon after he gives away her gospel-competition solo to Cassie's aunt Shirley (Shirley Caesar).	April 28, 1998
20	20	"Gospelfest: Part. 2"	Lou Rawls aids Pastor Randolph in pepping up the choir as the prepare for a national competition.	May 5, 1998
21	21	"Driving Blind"	After devouring a batch of rum-spiked cookies, a tipsy Pastor Randolph labors to get a blind man and his pregnant wife to the hospital safely.	May 12, 1998
22	22	"Under the Influence"	Pastor Randolph faces the legal system when he's arrested for drunkenly allowing a blind man to drive his expectant wife to the hospital.	May 19, 1998